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The big story of Major League Baseball’s post-season has thus far been the unstoppable force that is the Kansas City Royals, who in their first playoff appearance since 1985 have yet to lose a game.

After just squeaking in as the second wild card, the Royals are the first team in baseball history to start a playoff run 8-0, and are off to the World Series. Their success has been stunning, and a joyful thrill-ride for a fan base that waited nearly three decades for October baseball.

But it’s also confusing. Conventional wisdom suggested their starting pitching wasn’t deep enough to tangle with the game’s elite and their offence was middling at best. The Royals were plucky and fun to watch, sure. But World Series contenders? No chance. Meanwhile K.C.’s much-maligned skipper Ned Yost — who has long frustrated analytically-inclined fans for his rigid bullpen management and penchant for sacrifice bunts — became the first manager to ever win his first eight post-season games.

Can the Blue Jays, who now own the longest playoff drought in baseball, learn anything from these underdogs?

In many ways, no two teams could be more different. The Royals hit the fewest home runs in the majors this season, while the Jays live by the long ball. The Royals had arguably the best defence in baseball, while the Jays were once again among the league’s bottom feeders in the field. The Royals boast one of the best bullpens in the league, while the Jays’ relief corps of 2014 was among the worst.

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It would be difficult to replicate the Royals’ small-ball formula in the homer-happy American League East. And playoff success is as much about getting hot at the right time as anything else. But to ignore how Kansas City is doing what they’ve done also seems unwise. Maybe these plucky Royals are on to something. To that end, here are a few facets of Kansas City’s game the Jays would do well to imitate:

Defence

Throughout their lengthy rebuild, the Royals aimed to construct their club around a stellar defence. As the game moves further and further from the steroid era, run prevention has become increasingly important. This year saw the fewest runs scored in the majors since 1995. The Royals had the best defensive outfield in the big leagues, with Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain and Jarrod Dyson collecting a league-best 66 defensive runs saved. (The Jays’ three main outfielders, by comparison, posted a minus-17 mark.) While hitting can be streaky, a strong defence is usually more consistent and often proves the difference in a short playoff series.

Bullpen

The Royals have lost just four games this season when leading after the sixth inning, thanks to the nearly unhittable trio of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and closer Greg Holland. Yost was criticized for his inflexible bullpen usage earlier this year — he used Herrera in the 7th, Davis in the 8th and Holland in the 9th, almost without fail — but in the playoffs he has leaned on his best relievers more than usual, with positive results. Herrera, Davis and Holland combined to pitch nearly 40 per cent of Kansas City’s innings in the ALCS, allowing just one run between them. That workload isn’t sustainable over a full season, but right now they’re more valuable to the Royals than an ace starter. That’s something the Jays should consider as they look to retool their bullpen this off-season.

Base stealing

The Royals stole more bases than any other team in the majors this season and nearly twice as many as the Jays. They’ve swiped 13 bags this playoff, nine more than any other team. While Moneyball exposed the inefficiencies in base stealing, leading to a decline in attempts across the league, the Royals are bucking the trend. Much of their running is driven by a roster that includes a number of bona fide speedsters, particularly Dyson and Terrance Gore. But it’s also part of the Royals’ identity and has been played to great advantage in the high-stakes, usually low-scoring post-season, where every 90-foot advance is amplified.

Situational hitting

Even diehard Royals fans feared their team’s limited offensive pop would hamper their playoff chances. But that has not been the case, as the team has averaged more than five runs per game while hitting the second-most home runs. With a runner on third and none out, the Royals have scored seven out of nine times. So while their offence is less bombastic than others, they take advantage of their opportunities. Kansas City hit .271 with runners in scoring position this year, the second-highest mark in the AL. They also had the lowest strikeout rate in the majors and the second-highest contact rate, which plays into a common post-season trope: put the ball in play and see what happens.

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